“Okay...” Cherry rubbed her eyes. “Let’s see... Tom is moving to L.A. And he’s taking Stevie.”
“Thank god.”
“No—I want to keep her.”
Hope looked confused. “Youdo?”
“She’s my dog.”
“I thought she was Tom’s dog.”
“Well, I guess she is,” Cherry said. “Because he’s taking her with him. He’s moving to California.”
“Yeah, you said that. He told me about it at Christmas. He didn’t seem enthusiastic. What about Russ?”
“Russ...” Cherry said.
“He seemed so great.”
“Yeah, he did seem great.”
Hope frowned. “What happened?”
Cherry shrugged. “We broke up. He, um... Basically—Thursdayreally bothered him. We went to see a movie, and the trailer started playing...”
“Oh no,” Hope said. “The first one?”
“Yeah. I think so.”
“Ohno.”
“Anyway... Russ didn’t really know much aboutThursdaywhen we reconnected. And I thought that was a good thing? But... he wasn’t prepared for... you know,Baby.”
“Baby,” Hope said sadly.
“Yeah.”
“That must have been such a shock for him—especially if he’d never read the comic. It’d be like finding out that you’re dating...”
“Garfield,” Cherry supplied.
Hope looked at her. “I was going to say Juliet.”
Cherry rolled her eyes. “Anyway... it was a layered thing. I don’t think Russ was ever going to get over me being fat.”
“I thoughtyouwere going to be the one to take Ozempic,” Hope said.
Cherry goggled her eyes. “Me?Why me?”
“Because you canaffordit. You’ve got railroad insurance and Hollywood money. And you’re getting a divorce.”
“I don’t know how to take that...”
Hope poked Cherry’s arm. Right in the fatty part, the way their mom always did. “I was hoping you’d do it first and draw everyone’s fire. Then tell me how it went.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Cherry said, rubbing her arm.
“Wouldyou, though...?”
